1.6 Mln Ton Surplus Urea Available In Country

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News -22nd Sep,2016) : Senate Standing Committee on Industries was informed here on Thursday that surplus urea stock of 1.6 million ton was available in the local market.

The meeting which met under the chairmanship of Senator Hidayatullah was also informed that due to the surplus urea stock, the price of the commodity was reduced in local market to as low as Rs 1200 per bag.

Managing Director of National Fertilizer Company (NFC) informed the committee that after start of import of Liquified Natural Gas, the installed capacity of urea manufacturing plants was enhanced up to 6.5 million ton while total demand in the country was recorded at 5.8 million ton.

Senator Taj Haider pointed out that if there was glut of urea in the country then why urea was imported. The MD NFC replied that since December 2015, no urea was imported as the production capacity of local plants was enhanced due to uninterrupted supply of gas to the plants.

Briefing on the working and performance of Heavy Electrical Complex (HEC), an official of the HEC informed the committee that since its establishment, the complex had manufactured 298 units of power generators worth of Rs 7.6 billion while it had repaired 130 units worth of Rs 773 million.

Similarly he informed that currently the complex had orders in hands worth Rs 561 million and the HEC was running well on profit. Senator Khalida Perveen raised the point that when the organization was running in profit then why it was being privatized.

Senator Taj Haider proposed that instead of privatizing it, the HEC should be up graded to enhance its installed capacity which would not only help meeting the local demand but the government would also be able to export its production.

An official from Privatization Commission informed the committee that so far four unsuccessful attempts had been made to privatize the HEC and now the government was going to make the 5th attempt.

Earlier in response to the committee's direction of submitting report regarding agreements of Suzuki Motors and Indus Motors, the an official of Engineering Development board (EDB) responded by saying that contract agreement of Atlas Honda cars had been received.

He said however, Indus Motors Company had informed that prior to share their contract agreement they would need to get Toyota Motor Corporation consent being the contracting party of Technical Assistance Agreement and they would submit their response by October, 15.

Whereas, he said reply of Pak Suzuki Motor was still awaited to which the committee members expressed concern and directed the EDB to write a letter to Suzuki Motors to submit its report within a week. The committee was attended among others by Senators Chaudhry Tanvir Khan, Mian Muhammad Ateeq Shaikh, Khanzada Khan and Hari Ram.